Network meeting 2022

The ‘School of Sustainability’ project was initiated in 2019. It acts as an umbrella brand for sustainable school development in Saarland and is dedicated to initiating the necessary processes. The Saarland Ministries for the Environment, Climate, Mobility, Agriculture and Consumer Protection as well as Labour, Social Affairs, Women and Health, the State Institute for Education and Media, the Nature Conservation Youth in the Saarland Nature Conservation Association (NaJU) and the Network for Development Policy in Saarland (NES) - and the proWIN pro nature Foundation - are working on the corresponding content as partners of the initiative. A seal of approval process has been designed with the help of which educational institutions in Saarland can have their sustainable approaches officially recognised. The prerequisite is the fulfilment of various criteria as part of a multi-stage certification process.

‘School of Sustainability’ deals with the topics of resource waste, plastic waste, global warming and species extinction as well as with the all-encompassing question: What can we do - even on a small scale - to counteract these threatening developments? The strategy concept is based on the centrepiece of the United Nations 2030 Agenda and the ‘17 Sustainable Development Goals’.

One of the key approaches of the initiative is the regular exchange of ideas between all those involved and the presentation and honouring of participating projects. This is exactly what took place on 30 September at the proWIN Academy. Presentations and workshops rounded off the programme and ensured an exchange of information and knowledge transfer.

Two of the leading women in Saarland's ministries honoured the commitment of the educational institutions and made the sustainability project a top priority: Petra Berg - Minister for the Environment, Climate, Mobility, Agriculture and Consumer Protection as well as Justice - and Christine Streichert-Clivot - Minister for Education and Culture - personally presented the seal of approval to successfully certified schools. In addition to fulfilling the mandatory criteria, they all impressed with their creativity, passion and a strong culture of socio-ecological responsibility. A culture, as became clear on this day, that thrives on the ambitious commitment of the grassroots: the head teachers, teachers and pupils.

The day's event concluded with a panel discussion. It provided space for dialogue at eye level and addressed the question of how the integration of the topic of ‘sustainability’ can be implemented in a more educationally relevant way. One key approach discussed was whether the introduction of ‘sustainability’ as a compulsory subject could be a solution. The importance of an open debate in favour of a world worth living in was emphasised by environmental activist and documentary filmmaker Hannes Jaenicke, who had actually been invited to give a keynote speech, which he voluntarily postponed. Instead of just sharing his personal impressions and opinions with the audience, he felt it was more important to discuss the issue together and approach it from different angles.

In addition to Jaenicke, representatives from the fields of politics, education and non-profit organisations took part in the diverse panel discussion, which was chaired by moderator Isabel Sonnabend. The panellists were: Yara Hamoud and Lennart Morsch, pupils from the all-day community school in Neunkirchen (GGS NK), Jan Benedyczuk, Saarland State Secretary for Education, Samira Scheibner, Ministry of the Environment, and Benjamin Kiehn, proWIN pro nature Foundation.

There were many different views and opinions, but everyone agreed on one thing: there is still plenty of room for improvement when it comes to sustainability.